


Food for the Feast

by MalcolmReynolds



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Girl Squad - Freeform, Hanging Out, How They Met, Memories, Picnic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:42:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27387367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MalcolmReynolds/pseuds/MalcolmReynolds
Summary: The girl squad unpack more than food at their monthly picnic.Written for the Miraculous Writer's Guild October event by Team Queen Bee.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 33
Collections: Miraculous Writer's Guild October Event 2020





	Food for the Feast

Marinette hummed the latest Jagged Stone single to herself as she made the macarons for their monthly Girl Squad picnic as she tried to jog her mind as to how long it had been since it had last happened. At the beginning of the past year, Alya had started joining Marinette, Mylene, Juleka, Rose, and Alix at their monthly hangouts. Alya was such an integral part of their group now that it was hard to believe she was the most recent member.

As if thinking of her made her appear, Alya stuck her head around the doorway, calling out to Marinette as she held up the picnic basket that was already groaning with a lunch Chef Cesaire had prepared, then placed it on the opposite counter. Alya perched on one of the stools that sat in front of the countertop Marinette was working at, watching as Marinette deftly wielded the piping bag full of the rich creme that would soon be sandwiched between the two meringue-like outer cookies. 

The two of them were chatting together about the stunt Kim had pulled in class the other day (seriously, the boy would do anything on a dare!) when Mylene knocked timidly at the door. It didn't matter how many times that she had been to Marinette’s house, or the fact that Sabine just smiled and waved her back; just walking in made her nervous, even when she was expected. Mylene had brought a container full of mini-quiches, and she placed them next to Alya’s picnic basket. 

Juleka and Rose arrived together, ever the contrast in light and dark, carrying a sealed pitcher of freshly squeezed lemonade and several water bottles. Marinette packed away the last of the macarons and folded the blanket that she had made years ago when she was learning to sew into her backpack and was just straightening up as Kagami entered. Confident in herself and her abilities for most tasks that she undertook, Kagami was still a little awkward in social situations and offered the group a small smile and a wave. Returning the gesture with a friendly wave of her own, Marinette greeted their latest arrival. "Alix said to meet her in the park, so we're all here!"

Everyone, once again, shouldered their contributions to the feast, and, chatting merrily, headed out into the late spring sunshine, and made their way towards the park. They’d just made it through the gates guarding the park’s entrance when Alix skated towards them, plates, napkins, and cups in her backpack. She circled them once, before dashing off, calling over her shoulder, “Our usual spot is taken, but I found a nice one over near the fountain.” 

The other girls followed her, as she bumped off the edge of the path and less than gracefully dropped to land on her back in the grass, chin tilted up towards the sun, grinning at the warmth on her face. A shadow fell over Alix, and she slit open her eyes with a frown, although Juleka, to whom the shadow belonged, merely quirked an eyebrow at her, shaking the blanket slightly. “Move,” she mumbled. 

Alix rolled away goodnaturedly after sticking her tongue out at Juleka, and Rose grasped the other end of the blanket helping Juleka to spread it out on the grass. The girls all placed their food in the middle of the blanket before flopping around the edges, but Kagami looked around nervously. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know I was supposed to bring anything.” 

Marinette grinned and gave her a one-armed hug. “It’s your first time joining us, you didn’t need to! You’re our guest. Next time, though...” she trailed off, her grin impish.

As they sat around the edge of the blanket, Kagami wedged between Marinette and Rose, Alix passed out plates and the girls started grabbing for their favorite foods as if they hadn’t eaten in a week. Kagami watched, eyes round. “How long have you been doing this?”

“A few years,” answered Alix around a mouthful of food. “Although that was just the four of us.” She waved a hand indicating Rose, Juleka, Marinette, and herself. “The others joined later.”

“It didn’t start out as picnics,” Rose tittered. “We were too young to be left unsupervised, although some of us still are sometimes.” She shot a look at Alix that had no heat behind it, and Alix just snorted and snatched a strawberry off Rose’s plate.

All the other girls nodded, laughing, while Kagami looked around at the group sprawled casually on the blanket. “Just how long have you known each other?”

Rose turned her bright smile on Kagami. “I’ve known Marinette since we started school! And Nino, although he doesn’t come to our monthly gatherings. Girls only! Although we do other stuff with the boys sometimes. Oh! Marinette! Do you remember you and Nino’s wedding on the playground that year? Your dad made the best cupcakes!”

Alix nodded and picked up the explanation. “I was in class with Rose the next year and Marinette the year after that, but we didn’t really become good friends until our last year of primaire when we were all in class together with Mylene.”

Mylene laughed. “Yeah. That’s when we all started to have regular playdates together! Rose started the ‘Short Kids Club’, but Marinette suggested we rename it to something a tad more optimistic, so we did. Girl Squad!”

“After all, you don’t necessarily stay short forever.” Alix grinned, remembering seeing her adult self towering over Ladybug and even edging out Chat Noir.

“She really thought ahead! To think of the possible embarrassment spared of us when Juleka and Alya joined!” Rose was quick to add, sneaking a look at her friend.

Juleka nodded slightly and smiled knowingly as if she knew exactly why Rose found it important to stress that point.

Marinette sighed and giggled. “I was more hopeful, really, but I think I’ll always be more my Maman’s size than Papa’s.”

“Girls, if we stray out of order, we’ll never get this story told!” Alya cut in, with a wave of her hands before she pointed at herself. “And at this rate, we’ll never get to talk about me!” She made a face that was very reminiscent of Chloe when she was talking about herself, and the rest of the girls started laughing. Even Kagami cracked a smile. 

Rose took over the story as she beamed at Alya. “And this is why you’re such a good journalist, Alya, you cut right to the heart of the matter! So we formed the Short Kids Club, the four of us, when we were the oldest kids in primaire.”

“And some of us were shorter than the kids two years younger,” Alix grumbled.

Pouting at her friend, Rose continued. “We would always hang out together on the playground, and once a month would have a sleepover all together at someone’s house! There were a couple of other kids, but they all ended up in different colleges, and we just lost touch.” Her blue eyes sparkled with tears momentarily, before her smile broke through again. “But we met some really cool people in college, so it’s all fine now!”

Marinette spoke for the first time in a while. “Yes! We met Juleka and a couple of others, but Juleka’s the only one who really stuck as part of the Girl Squad!

“Anyway,” Alix cut in. “We’ve been doing the picnics since we started at College Francoise Dupont. Me, Marinette, Mylene, Rose, and Juleka. Alya joined our class at the beginning of this year, and…” She trailed off, turning to Alya and grinning. “When her mom came into the class and told us that she was a professional chef, we couldn’t NOT invite her! Think of the food we would have missed!”

Alya swatted her friend, who dramatically threw herself back onto the ground, arms stretched above her head, but careful, Kagami noticed, to avoid knocking over any of the plates or cups. “Ha! So you only brought me along for the food, did you?” She mock-glared at the group until none of them could contain their laughter. Even Kagami was giggling behind her hand. 

By this time even Kagami had followed suit, piling her plate high with the goodies calling to her from the center of the blanket, trying out all the new foods that she wouldn’t normally be allowed to eat. Guilt twinged at the back of her mind, but she pushed it aside, promising herself an extra workout session to burn the calories. 

“So you three,” Kagami waved a finger sandwich in the direction of Rose, Marinette and Alix, “have known each other for about eight years?” When the girls nodded, she continued, “you’ve been friends with Mylene for four, and Juleka for another three?” More nods. “And you were all in the same class with Alya this year, so you invited her to join you? And I’m assuming it wasn’t really just for the food.” She looked around at the sea of smiling faces and nodding heads. “So why invite me? You guys aren’t even friends with me or in my class.”

Marinette frowned, her bright blue eyes widening in alarm. “But you ARE my friend. And you’re always so busy that nobody else really has time to get to know you. I wanted all my friends to really get a chance to hang out with you and see what a cool person you really are.”

Kagami’s smile softened, and she awkwardly reached over to give Marinette a one-armed hug. “Thanks, Marinette. I’m glad I’ve met you.” Glancing around at the others, she continued. “If you are half as wonderful as Marinette says you are, then I would be very happy to become friends with you as well.”

This statement was met with a chorus of “aww” from most of the other girls present. Alix simply rolled her eyes but shot a fond look at Marinette, and Kagami realized that the two of them were fairly similar in the fact that neither liked to wear their true emotions on their sleeves, but whether Alix also had been taught that emotional displays were a sign of weakness, she wasn’t sure. 

Juleka and Mylene were both relatively quiet people and simply ate and nodded while Rose and Alya lead the bulk of the conversation, with Marinette and Alix chiming in occasionally. Once people were not so much eating, as picking at the treats, Rose turned to Kagami. “So tell us about you! Marinette’s right. I’ve seen you around our school, but I never have had much chance to talk to you; you always seem to be rushing off somewhere!” 

Kagami glanced over at Marinette, who nodded encouragingly, so Kagami told the others about her fencing lessons, and her family’s history of excelling in the sport. The others nodded their understanding of parental pressures. 

By the time she was done with her story, Kagami no longer felt self-conscious talking with the girls. As they packed up to go their separate ways, most of the girls offered her a hug. Alix gave her a high five and Juleka offered a smile and a wave, but Kagami was very pleased as she met her mother’s car at the edge of the park; not only had she secured an invitation to join them the next month, but she was fairly certain she’d made more genuine friends. A slow smile curled across her face as she sighed, leaning back in the seat and letting her eyes drift closed. Real friends. She suddenly couldn’t wait for school on Monday.


End file.
